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October rose care: How to make the season last

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED OCT 9, 2018

October brings out the orange (plus bronze foliage) of this
Vavoom floribunda rose. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)

Tips to keep your bushes thriving and blooming

It's not only foliage that turns color in fall.

October roses look different. Reds seem darker, orange and yellow hues more intense. Light-colored or white petals tend to brown prematurely or bear the tiny tracks of hungry thrips. Leaves may turn burnished bronze, show signs of fungal damage or look ready to fall off. Bright red or orange hips -- rose fruit -- start to form.

These differences make fall rose care different, too. With Sacramento's mild autumn weather, there's still time to enjoy more flowers. But the bushes need a little extra TLC and observation to make the most of the final weeks of this growing season.

* October is when fungal diseases and certain pests tend to show up (again). It's the weather; those afternoons in the 70s and morning dew combine for optimal conditions. Blackspot and rust are the most common fungal problems and will basically defoliate the bush. (You want the plant to lose its leaves, but not until late December and pruning time.) Blackspot starts as yellow blotches, then lives up to its name; also aptly named, rust is the orange spores found on the underside of leaves.

Don't spray fungicide after seeing an outbreak; it's pretty much useless at this stage.
The best strategy is to contain these outbreaks before they spread. This also cuts down on outbreaks next spring. If you see an infected leaf, snip off the whole leaflet and dispose of it in the garbage (not in green waste or compost; that just spreads the fungus). If you see fallen leaves under your rose bushes, pick them up and dispose of them, too. These fungi lurk in fallen foliage and old mulch, awaiting new leaves and spring.

Gemini hybrid rose looks redder in fall weather.

* Also be on the look out for spider mites; they love dry and dusty conditions. Strong blasts of water will clean the foliage and drown many mites.

* Aphids will attack new foliage and buds as bushes push out one last round of flowers. (They've been especially bad in my garden this month.) Blast them off with water, too, or squirt with insecticidal soap.

* Western flower thrips, which feed on petals before the buds open, cause scarring that's most notable on light-colored roses, especially white or cream blooms. Infected buds may look deformed; trim them off and dispose of them. (Winter weather will eventually take care of the other thrips.)

* Dead-head spent blooms, but avoid any hard pruning just yet. (Save that for winter dormancy.) Hybrid tea roses pruned now should rebloom in six to eight weeks, in time for Thanksgiving and December bouquets.

* Rose hips add color and interest to the fall garden, but delay them on most varieties until November. When rose hips form at the base of old blooms, that cues the bush that its work is over and it can go to sleep for the winter. When you delay hip formation, the bush continues to produce flowers.

The Mardi Gras floribunda rose shows all its colors in fall.

* Remove browned roses or buds that refuse to open. Pick up browned blooms, too. Those discolored flowers often are infected with botrytis (good for wine grapes, bad for roses).

* Although you want more flowers, cut back on any fertilizer, especially nitrogen. (That prompts too much new growth.) Sprinkle a little bone meal instead.

* What the roses do need is water. October precipitation usually is not enough. Check that the bushes are getting the irrigation they need (about an inch a week).

* Windy weather can be a problem for climbing and tall roses, which can get whipped around by strong gusts. Tie down new canes to avoid wind damage.

* While outdoors checking your roses, remember to bring some blooms inside. With their rich colors, fall roses are among the prettiest of the year.

* To enjoy autumn roses at their best, check out the Sierra Foothills Rose Society annual show, noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20, at Green Acres Nursery & Supply, 205 Serpa Way, Folsom. Besides a great rose display, see arrangements and spectacular rose photography at this free special event. Get advice on specific rose issues as well as possible identification of mystery flowers. Learn more at www.sierrafoothillsrosesociety.org .

Debbie Arrington, a longtime rose grower and member of the Sacramento Rose Society, is a consulting rosarian.

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GENERAL GARDENING

An article about gardening.

Keywords:

fertilizing Sacramento events pests roses weather gardening flower show pruning rose show fungal diseases Folsom Green Acres Nursery and Supply Sierra Foothills Rose Society flowers

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Food in My Back Yard Series

April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)

April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers

April 8: When to plant summer vegetables

April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths

March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth

March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space

March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds

March 4: Potatoes from the garden

Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later

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Garden Checklist for week of April 27

Once the clouds clear, get to work. Spring growth is in high gear.

* Set out tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants.

* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, radishes and squash. Plant onion sets.

* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias. Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.

* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom. Late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Transplant lettuce and cabbage seedlings.

* Weed, weed, weed! Don’t let unwanted plants go to seed.

* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.

* Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.

* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.

* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.

* Start thinning fruit that's formed on apple and stone fruit trees -- you'll get larger fruit at harvest (and avoid limb breakage) if some is thinned now. The UC recommendation is to thin fruit when it is about 3/4 of an inch in diameter. Peaches and nectarines should be thinned to about 6 inches apart; smaller fruit such as plums and pluots can be about 4 inches apart. Apricots can be left at 3 inches apart. Apples and pears should be thinned to one fruit per cluster of flowers, 6 to 8 inches apart.

* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.

* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.

* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.

* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.

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